KSC-2011-3778

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- This overhead view photographed in the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, shows workers attaching a crane to shuttle Atlantis. The crane will lift the spacecraft into a high bay where it will be attached to the waiting external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters, which are already on the mobile launcher platform. Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim are targeted to launch in early July, taking with them the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies, logistics and spare parts. The STS-135 mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing spacecraft and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. For more information visit, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley